“On paper with us losing our senior point guard, a lottery pick, the school’s all-time leading rebounder, with us having only one senior this year, you understand why people weren’t voting for us in the Top 25,” Drew said.

The Bears (8-0) are getting plenty of votes now after an impressive start with three wins over top 10 teams, propelling them from not a single vote less than a month ago to their highest AP ranking in six seasons.

Closing out the first day of the Randy Miksch/Raymond Washington Varsity Basketball Tournament, Victory Prep improved to 11-1 on the season after running away from the hosting Sweeny Bulldogs, 61-40 in Pool A play Thursday night.